So since June 25th, 2012 (the day after Utah's state holiday Pioneer Day), I've been working at the LDS Church-owned second-hand thrift store Deseret Industries (nicknamed "DI" here in Utah) as a large item and clothes associate, as well as a cashier. And it being a minimum wage job (essentially, it's supposed to be a "training job" where you gain experience until you can get back on your feet and find another job), it's had its ups and its downs. The downs are that the labor is exhausting (massive piles of clothes to sort through and carry, and walking up and down the store repeatedly), the customers act like the store is a combination daycare and messy bedroom (nobody picks up anything, expecting us to be their moms), and the "inoffensive" oldies music is aggravating.
One of the positive sides to my job are some of the customers. I especially adore the poor, hard-working refugees and immigrants who come to my store. Below the fold, I'll mention some of the folks who come here.
The DI store that I work at is located in West Jordan, a suburb-city of Salt Lake City. While West Jordan itself is incredibly bland (bedroom community bland), and the only large minorities are the Hispanic immigrants, the store is located along Redwood Road, a central highway going through Salt Lake County. Because of that, my store gets a lot of folks from Salt Lake City and (occasionally) West Valley City, the most diverse cities in the state. Apparently, SLC in particular is a haven for lots of refugees, so I meet interesting people all the time.
As I walk through the store, and as I stand at the cash register, I get something of a feeling of peace as I see people of many ethnicities wearing both Western and traditional clothes. Despite my troubles with change and new things as a person with Asperger's Syndrome, I really feel content when I hear families talking in Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic (in Iraqi, Somalian, Sudanese, and other dialects), Quechua, Burmese (not sure which language if there's more than one in that country) Swahli, and of course, beautifully accented English.
And not only that, but I work with many amazing people who are from all over the world; I've worked with Filipinos, a Bosnian guy, Peruvians, Mexicans, recently a Pakistani fellow, a couple of Argentinians, a New Zealander, and many other nationalities.
That diary doesn't have much of a point, but I'd just like to say that you can find peaceful, happy multiculturalism in the strangest of places; like a Mormon-owned thrift store in the middle of Utah.